Of faith, that is, on (according to Wiki) the added 366th day of this intercalary year or bissextile year:
that Congress will come to consensus to finally act and act compassionately,
that SCOTUS will act wisely and soon on the 14th amendment case,
and finally that voters will turn out in November in great numbers to restore us to sanity.
Attribution: The brains I gave ’em by John Darkow, Columbia Missourian
Stephen puts aside politics to acknowledge Mitch McConnell’s big announcement, the former PM of Australia confirmed that Trump is obsessed with Vladimir Putin, and the star witness in the House GOP’s impeachment case against President Biden took bogus intelligence from Russian spies and was arrested for lying to the FBI.
and click here for kimmel’s
Mitch McConnell Stepping Down, Melania Trump Gossip & Don Jr’s Plan to Give Daddy a Boost
All eyes were on Michigan for the Republican and Democratic primary elections, Biden issued an executive order to safeguard American data from our enemies who are working hard to try to steal it, GramPOTUS paid a visit to his doctor at Walter Reed Medical Center today for his annual physical, Hunter went in for a probe conducted by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, Mitch McConnell announced that after an unprecedented 17 years as the top Republican in Congress, he is hanging it up, there is some hot gossip about Melania Trump’s time in the White House, Lara Trump has officially entered the race for chair of the Republican National Committee, DJTJ took to Twitter to unveil his plan for how to give his Dad a boost at the voting booths, Apple has reportedly discontinued their efforts to develop an electric car, people in Scotland were shedding tears over the weekend at a Willy Wonka themed event, and in honor of Jimmy hosting the Oscars on Sunday March 10th, we sent our roving reporter out on the street for a 96th Oscar Edition of Breaking the News.
in other news of note on taking leaps
Pigs don’t fly: Louisiana piglet rescued after being thrown in Mardi Gras | New Orleans | The Guardian
A piglet that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was “pardoned” on Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker.
The weeks-old pig – dubbed Earl “Piglet” Long, a play on the name of the 45th governor of Louisiana – was ceremoniously pardoned by the lieutenant governor, Billy Nungesser, on the Louisiana capitol steps.
“He will live out his life without any threat of being thrown like a football or being part of jambalaya or boudin in someone’s kitchen here in Louisiana,” Nungesser said, referring to two popular dishes that contain sausage.
While beads, stuffed animals and hand-decorated souvenirs are frequently catapulted through the air during carnival season in Louisiana, pigs are not among those items.
The piglet’s journey to a new home began earlier this month when a bystander noticed men in a park, not far from a Mardi Gras parade, throwing “what appeared to be a mini-football” to one another and laughing, according to the Humane Society of Louisiana.
As the bystander approached, they could hear squealing and realized the object flying through the air was a piglet. The bystander asked for custody of the terrified animal.
“The rowdiness, endless parades, and party-like atmosphere often lend themselves to questionable behavior – like how three grown men behaved a few days ago,” the Humane Society said in a social media post.
The piglet, who is expected to grow to be 80lb (36kg), has since been adopted by the state representative Lauren Ventrella and will live on a farm in the capitol region.
“As a Republican, sometimes we like to cut the pork,” Ventrella said, alluding to Republicans’ reputed conservative approach to fiscal spending. “But, I will tell you, this is the pork we won’t be cutting.”
Bink, from prior thread “That horse left the barn 10 cases ago” … I really can’t argue with you there (I guess I need to start using sarcasm emojis more often 🙄)
Hearing about the Supreme Court yesterday I had the same sinking feeling Ann Richards gave me the day after the 2000 election. At that point Democrats were actually gleeful about Al Gore’s chances. But she wasn’t. “It’ll come down to the Supreme Court,” she told me in a CBS green room. “And I don’t trust those guys”.
There are scenarios for a trial before the election but the best odds favor enough untrustworthy justices getting Trump off the hook.
On the side of a pre-election trial happening, maybe the doomsday scenario is overstated. For starters the court didn’t give Trump what he was actually asking for, to send the case back to the appeals court, which would have certainly delayed trial beyond the election. And when you look at the limited question they want addressed it shows they’ve tossed out lots of his arguments about immunity. And the assumption there will be no trial if he’s not tried before winning overlooks that he still could be tried after the election and before the inauguration.
Focus now centers on Trump’s New York City criminal trial starting March 25, which seems set in stone. Trump lawyers have exhausted available pre-trial delay tactics. And the case is about actions before his presidency, so unlike the DC election charges there is no immunity claim to delay the trial.
34 felony counts each carrying up to a four year prison sentence, to be served consecutively.
Although known as the “hush money” case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says it’s really about election interference — illegally hiding damaging information from voters in the 2016 campaign.
Wikipedia: Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York
On Trump’s other criminal cases:
— Prosecutors in Georgia have asked for an August trial.
— On Friday the federal judge in the Mar-A-Lago documents case will hold a scheduling conference expected to determine whether a May 20 trial date will stand.
Despite evidence to the contrary, I do have hopes that when the court is directly confronted by Trump, even the far right justices will remember that they actually studied law not politics.
DNC to put up billboard in Eagle Pass for Trump’s border trip | The Hill
If Israel didn’t jump the shark by firing on Palestinians lined up for good aid…my god.
If there was anyone still giving Israel a pass, it’s been yanked.
Egypt isn’t off the hook for not taking them in. Where had Saudi Arabia been? Palestinians seem to be the red-headed step-children of the region.
Ceasefire, release all hostages, step up and help, Egypt, etc.
Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation was on Alex Wagner last night. (Apparently no tube-copying-and-pasting permitted, or at least I couldn’t get it.) Nevertheless, a point he made near the end of the segment was Thomas and Alito don’t want to die on the bench. They’re itching to retire, but can’t and won’t if Biden is president. They have a vested interest in getting Trump back into office so they can go off safe in the knowledge their successors will be as bad as them. Sandra Day O’Connor did the same thing, he says, in putting Bush into office in 2000 so she could go.
Dumbass cites a single murder by a Venezuelan? From Pew
This data is for 2020 – You know, Dumbass’ last year in office.
And from Cato:
Now let’s see, the 1991 comparison was while GHWB was President – the 80s were Regan & GHWB 9 of 10 years – the 70s were Republicans for 7 of the 10 years. So open that door, Dumbass.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/politics/house-stopgap-bill-vote-shutdown/index.html
“The House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on a stopgap bill to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.”
“Congress is confronting a pair of shutdown deadlines – on March 1 and March 8. At the end of the day Friday, funding will expire for a series of key government agencies if lawmakers do not act.”
“On Wednesday, congressional leaders announced an agreement on six appropriations bills and said the package of full-year bills will be enacted before March 8, while the remaining appropriations bills to fund the rest of the government will be finalized and passed before March 22.”
If SCOTUS helps tRUMPsky up to November, we must have a blue tsunami of women, people of color, and any American who wants to save democracy.
Let’s give President Biden a second term. Can we also give him a majority Senate and House, so he can expand SCOTUS and pack it with justices who aren’t white supremacists/fake-christian nationalists?
Craig, I had the same initial thought when you posted it yesterday. Maybe they realize if they don’t put their own imprimatur on the question of immunity, there will be no end to the continual cases and appeals by Trump and others in the future.
Border Wars! Biden and Trump in Texas today.
Biden campaign statement: “Donald Trump doesn’t want a solution. He wants a campaign slogan.”
Ivy, saw that segment last night. My thought was that in the best of all worlds, Biden gets re-elected and both of them die soon thereafter.
Pogo, I’m just superstitious enough to be careful about wishes, but if God wants it to go that way, who am I to argue. Down here in the earthly realm, it’s seems clear there are no pure motives on that side of the bench. Under those robes are multi-layers and bundles of conflicts of interest.
The main problem I see facing SCOTUS is how to make Scrump immune without also making Biden immune.
Are they corrupt enough for the task?
What’s the first thing on Pres. Biden’s to-do list once the court grants presidential Immunity?
They could say whatever ruling they make applies as an exception to just their one special president. Other presidents need not apply.
SCOTUS: OK, there is no such thing as presidential immunity—STARTING NOW!!
Gee, Sturg I dunno. They’ve already likely given him the time he needs to get his fat ass elected before he exhausts the appeals for any of any convictions that might somehow miraculously occur before 1/20/24, after which the federal charges will evaporate before 1:00 p.m. But any immunity that would apply to Dumbass, if stated generally rather than being limited only to the facts that underlie his federal arrests, would apply to Joe as well. I doubt that they will take the issue up that broadly.
But let’s assume they were to issue some broadly worded immunity.
– Now if Dumbass was in charge he’d call a meeting of his nastiest advisors and start issuing orders for FBI, CIA, Seal Team Six, etc., etc., etc. to start rounding up and jailing and executing anyone who has been critical of him – first on the list, Joe and Hunter, (and perhaps Jill).
– Joe, on the other hand will check his calendar, go to the meetings on it, make a few fundraising calls and wait for the election to occur and between election day and 1/6/24 do whatever he can under the cloak of immunity the SCROTALS provide. If he loses the election and doesn’t have sufficient immunity to overturn it and stay in office, he’ll probably start looking at whatever classified reading material he’d like to take back to Delaware to wile away the time, or maybe just head home to wax the ‘vette.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/politics/terrence-bradley-texts-fani-willis/index.html
“The 413 texts between Terrence Bradley and Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for one of Trump’s co-defendants, reveal months of communications between the two, underscoring the extent to which Bradley assisted Merchant’s pursuit of evidence to back up claims Willis and her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade, engaged in an improper romantic relationship.”
“The text messages raise questions about Bradley’s credibility, and the degree to which Merchant appeared to rely on his claims that she was then unable to substantiate elsewhere. They also shed new light on his testimony and how it failed to meet the expectations of defense attorneys who had billed Bradley as the star witness in their bid to disqualify Willis.”
“The additional text messages show Bradley calling Merchant his “friend,” offering unsolicited advice, and also bashing Willis and Wade, Bradley’s former law partner.”
“Bradley left their law firm in 2022 after allegations surfaced that Bradley sexually assaulted an employee at the firm.”
People are saying that our intelligence services know that Ginnni Thomas is on active communication with russian intelligence
Here’s where the Dumbass/Merchant case falls apart…
From what I saw on the tube, Bradley was of little help to the Dumbass team. His testimony had to be drawing a lot of WTFs from the prosecution table as it unfolded. The biggest problem Merchant may have now is that unless Bradley authenticated the text messages between them, without Merchant doing so they probably will be stricken from the record. And to be brutally honest, I didn’t see anything from Merchant or the other defense counsel that would suggest to me that they were particularly skilled litigators, with the possible exception of the guy with gray hair who did some talking during Bradley’s first appearance on the stand after Merchant and one of the other lawyers appeared to be foundering. And for what it’s worth, the attempts to pin Bradley down were ineffective, to say nothing of boring. And that’s a bad combination when trying a case to a judge. Can’t wait for the closing arguments – although I don’t expect much.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/29/john-cornyn-senate-leader-mcconnell/
“U.S. Sen. John Cornyn officially announced Thursday he is running to lead the Senate Republican Conference.”
“I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader [Mitch] McConnell.
Not gonna happen.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/abandoned-oil-wells-west-texas-railroad-commission/
“The massive pool of salt water on Wight’s ranch is the latest man-made disaster resulting from abandoned oil and water wells across the state.”
“Left untreated, these wells threaten the region’s groundwater supply and vegetation used to feed cattle.”
“Texas has plugged wells for decades, but the urgency has increased in recent years as orphaned wells in the Permian Basin began to leak salt water and, in some cases, hazardous liquids.”
“Ten miles southwest of Wight’s land, an abandoned well in Pecos County created a body of water now known as Lake Boehmer. It began to form about two decades ago and now is a half-mile wide.”
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2021, included a $4.7 billion nationwide injection to plug orphan wells on public and private lands. Texas received $25 million in 2022 and an additional $80 million in January. The commission operates a separate state plugging program for which it requested $63 million for 2024 and 2025. In fiscal year 2023, Texas plugged 1,754 wells with state fundsand 730 wells with federal funds.”
“Complicating the effort are thousands of undocumented wells, like the one that erupted on Wight’s land. With no record of its existence, it’s difficult to determine who is responsible for securing the well.”
Your tax dollars at work.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/europe/france-senate-abortion-rights-constitution-intl/index.html
“France is one step closer to enshrining abortion rights in its constitution after French senators overwhelmingly endorsed the change on Wednesday.”
Too much news to comment on, i enjoyed Olbermann’s recent show where he spitballed and even said something nice about TWO people!
Good job, Mr. O 👍
For the record the bipartisan Senate Bill Trump killed actually included $650 million for building border wall. Plus funds for more border patrol and fast tracking asylum with higher burden of proof and more judges. Automatically close the border when crosses averaged 5,000 a day. Passed Senate and would have passed House if Trump had let Speaker Johnson put it on the floor. But he’d rather have his racist slogans instead of trying to fix the problem.
Senate GOP leader hopefuls lining up to kiss the ring, no question it’s Trump’s decision.
John Cornyn told CNN: “I’ve had a couple of good conversations with him, most recently yesterday, telling him my intention, told him that I had worked with him when I was the majority whip for four years and worked very successfully, in my opinion, with him and his team, and I look forward to doing that again”.
Asked if Trump was supportive of his bid, Cornyn said, “He wanted to know who was interested, who was running, so we didn’t have that conversation”.
So I’m thinking Supreme Court might have killed two cases yesterday, because Trump lawyers have filed immunity claim in FL documents case. That gives Trump-friendly Judge Cannon an easy path to freezing her case. Could happen at tomorrow’s scheduling hearing
The voices in his head are now speaking strange languages… Trump at the border today:
Trump team just proposed August trial date for FL docs case, DOJ wants July. Hearing tomorrow
https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-maralago-justice-department-89a544f886d93203d1cad999c46dbd50
Languages coming into the country? Dumbass might start with English. A couple of years in a basic ESL class would be a good start.
He doesn’t speak the languages at his own dinner table.
“I understand now that Republicans will not support a border fix. What would Republican senators and representatives do on the weekends if they couldn’t fly down to the border, dress up like border patrol officers and pretend that they’re chasing diwn undocumented immigrants” — Sen. Chris Murphy
Of the two trips down to the border, the one that gets the most attention is the person speaking gibberish.
Ivy, of course. Did he wear his gold sneakers while he mangled what he thinks is English?
Alright class, please diagram the following sentence(s).
“The United States is being overrun by the Biden migrant crime,” Trump added. “It’s a new form of vicious violation to our country.”
NOT a good sign when you can’t tell whether he puked out one or 2 sentences.
He’s not talking to us, he’s talking to his base, and he’s saying everything they want to hear
it doesn’t need to make sense, they understand
That’s the second time I’ve heard SFB use the “languages nobody here can even understand” line. It sounds like off-the-cuff, crazy world salad, but it’s not. It’s a talking point.
Rachel Madow made a good point. Ford pardoned Nixon, because a POTUS does not have total immunity for everything they do while in office.
dirty tricks inbound, will be coming hot and heavy all season
if ya can’t beat ‘em, suppress ‘em
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/biden-black-voters-mailers-south-carolina-nonprofit-rcna138468
Sneakers and menthol cigarettes. Jesus H, the MAGAts are targeting a stereotype.
kitchen sink approach to compliment old stand-by’s like intimidation, deceptive robocalls, photo id laws, false election date promotion, you name it, they’re gonna do it
We need both Houses and some statehouses, every swing district and state
He’s telling them in those open carry states that if they should overhear someone speaking a language which “nobody understands” they are dangerous and need to be shot…..or something.
The languages are dangerous and travel in caravans.
Did we ever get an accurate translation of covfefe?
Covfefe is Latin for hamberder
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